Schools Competition

About the School Roundel Competition

The School Competition is an exciting opportunity for budding artists and historians to design a unique circular stained glass artwork to be presented to a former Lord Mayor of London.

We invite students to submit an original design on paper. The winning design will be made into a roundel by a professional stained-glass artist and will be presented to Sir Andrew Parmley, the 689th Lord Mayor of London at a special event to be held at your school.

The pupil with the winning design will receive £100 to deposit in their savings account. The winner’s school will receive £200-worth of school art materials.

The competition was created in 2017 by Reflections of the Lord Mayor, together with the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass, and is open to school students in the United Kingdom up to the age of 11.

WHAT IS STAINED GLASS?

Stained glass is used to create colourful windows for all sorts of buildings. In the UK it has traditionally been used mainly in churches, although today architectural stained glass can also be found in office buildings, shopping centres, airports, schools and private houses. The beauty of stained glass is that it comes alive through the combination of light, colour and images.

WHAT IS A ROUNDEL?

A roundel is a small piece of stained glass, usually circular, that is meant to be seen close up. It can be made up either of a flat circular piece of clear glass or of a number of different coloured pieces of glass joined together by thin lines of lead (known as leadlines) to make up the circle. Designs are added with paints, stains and enamels baked on to the glass to make the picture.

How to enter

Draw your design in a 9 inch circle.

Think about:

the kinds of pictures and details you want to draw to celebrate Sir Andrew Parmley’s work, interests and achievements as Lord Mayor of London

how your pictures and details join together to create the design

what colours you would like to use

if you want to use leadlines to make parts of your design stand out – think about how they will join together.

Your design must feature the words “Reflections of The Lord Mayor” and the year “2019”. It must also feature the Lord Mayor’s name: “Sir Andrew Parmley”.

Tell us about your design in 100 words or less. Describe what you have drawn and why.

How to submit your entry

Applications will open on 03 December 2018. Check back here for details on how to submit.

* Visit buildings that contain stained glass to see how this looks, especially when different lights shine through it.

* A template is provided on the entry form and your design must be drawn in that. You may want to photocopy this template so you can try out ideas before drawing your final design.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WINNING DESIGN?

The winning design will be made into a roundel by professional stained-glass artist artist Helen Whittaker (www.helenwhittakerart.com). She will contact the winning student and their school to explain how the design will be made in glass. The competition design entries and winners will be publicised by Reflections of the Lord Mayor and the Glaziers’ Livery Company. The winning design – made into a roundel – will be presented to the 689th Lord Mayor of London.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1. Entries are welcome from all students up to age 11 who are at school in the UK. Please submit only one entry per student.

2. Designs will be judged, and the winner chosen, by the Reflections of the Lord Mayor team including: Helen Whittaker MA, FMGP, senior artist member of the Glaziers’ Livery Company and Chair of the Judging Panel; glass artist Julia Gonyou who won the 2018 LMReflects Roundel Competition last year; Suzanne Philips, Trustee of Glaziers Foundation; Pamela Kember-Tong, Head of Arts and Learning, Asia House; Caroline Wright, Appeal Director of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal; and founder and host of “Reflections of the Lord Mayor”, Christopher Seow. The judges’ decision is final.

3. The glass artist may make appropriate alterations to the winning design to ensure the finished piece matches all technical requirements and is of a high standard.

4. The winner and their school will be notified directly and the results will be posted on social media by the Glaziers Livery Company and on “Reflections of The Lord Mayor” website in due course.